Row over facilities repair

The rehabilitation of facilities at the Federal University of Agriculture (UNIAGRIC) in Makurdi, the Benue State capital is seen by students as cosmetic. Reason: The job, they say, is being haphazardly done. DAMSA AHANGBA (300-Level Mathematics and Computer Science) reports.

It a thanksgiving last November to mark his second year in office, Prof Emmanuel Kucha, Vice-Chancellor (VC) of the Federal University of Agriculture (UNIAGRIC) in Makurdi, Benue State, unveiled his development plan for the school.

He declared a two-month break to enable the management embark on rehabilitation of facilities. The announcement was greeted with applause as students expressed hope that things would change for the better.

The VC told the gathering to judge him by his performance.

However, nine months after Prof Kucha made that promise, members of the university community have yet to feel the impact of the reform. The VC, some said, may have reneged on his pledge to make the campus conducive for learning.

The two months within which the VC promised to repair the infrastructure, was extended by a month, distorting the academic calendar. Students returned to meet their Halls of Residence almost the same way they left them. The school, they said, only painted the hostels.

Some students, who spoke to CAMPUSLIFE, described the renovation as cosmetic, saying things may become worse if the management did not fix the decrepit facilities.

Kehinde Ajibola, a 400-Level student, who is staying in Dalhatu Tafida Hall, said the hostel was only painted, adding: “There is no difference between what we left and what we see now.”

To Chia Denen, a 300-Level student, it is not enough for the management to carry out renovation on existing facilities. He said: “The school needs to build new hostels and lecture theatres to save students from problems of overcrowding and ill-health. Painting existing hostels and lecture rooms does not serve the interests of the students.”

As the school battled overstretching of its facilities, the management decided to relocate the College of Management Sciences to the main campus, thereby increasing the number of students on the campus.

Despite the rehabilitation embarked upon by the management, students said the Halls of Residence remained unfit to live in.

Such is the Block C Hostel extension, which was built in 2012 exclusively for Veterinary Medicine students. CAMPUSLIFE gathered that ceilings in most of the rooms have fallen off and the doors broken. Students also complained that there is no power supply to some rooms.

•One of the rooms without ceiling in the school hostel

Samuel Ahokegh, a Biological Science student, living in the Block C hostel lamented the poor conditions in the hall. He said: “In my room, there is no ceiling and we have not had power supply for months. We have made several complaints but there has been no response from the porters. The heat from the sun hits us directly, making the room uncomfortable. If our parents come to visit and see how we live on the campus, they will never be happy.”

Drivers of commercial tricycle, who ply the pothole-ridden road that links the south wing of the university to its entrance, are not also happy with the state of the road. They said the state of the road had become worsened during the raining season, with the school management not making any move to patch the ditches on the thoroughfare.

Gabriel Aondakaa, a commercial tricycle driver, said: “I visit mechanic workshop every week for repair on my Keke (a local parlance for tricycle) because of the bad road.”

Corroborating him, Henry Azeeka, another driver, said he spent his profit on repair of his Keke, adding: “I manage to survive because I spend almost everthing I have on the vehicle.”

A student, who did not want his name in print, said it was shameful to see a federal university in that “messy condition”. He said: “With this type of facilities, how do you expect the university to produce graduates that can stand shoulder high with his peers in other part of the world?”

With the university preparing to host the 25th Nigerian University Games (NUGA), students wonder how the sport event would be successful when the facilities to be used for the games remained under construction.

Peter Itodo, a 300-Level student, said the school management should do deploy resources to restore the condition of facilities on the campus.

Timothy Ibinyi, a 400-Level student, expressed a contrary opinion, saying the condition of the hostels was better compared to what it used to be.